I once attended a webinar where one of the trivia questions was, “Do you prefer diet or exercise?” I assume that question meant if you would get the same benefits from dieting or exercising, which would you choose? Interestingly, 70 percent of the attendees chose exercise, and 30 percent chose diet! Without thinking twice, I chose exercise. What would you choose? Which is more important? Diet or exercise? Let’s look at the benefits you get from either dieting or exercising, and I will let you decide if you want to stick with either or both.
What is Diet?
First, when I say diet, I am not necessarily referring to fad diets, although they all fall under the umbrella of “diet.”
Here is a good definition of diet:
An eating plan in which someone eats less food or only particular types of food because they want to lose weight or for medical reasons.
So, all forms of diet plans, including healthy eating, keto, low-carb, low-fat, paleo, Mediterranean diet, etc., are all diets. Technically, if you are over 40, you need to be on some form of diet, at least sometimes. We really cannot afford to eat whatever we want every time we want. For more on diets and to find out which diet might work for you, check out “Which Diet, if any, is Best for You?”
What is exercise?
To exercise means to perform physical activity to make your body strong and healthy. Exercise comes in different forms. It could be as simple as walking or dancing or as intense as High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
If you are curious about the benefits of dancing as an exercise, check out “Dance Your Heart Out – 14 Health Benefits of Dancing.” And if you are short on time and want to accomplish more quickly, check out “No Time to Exercise? Try a HIIT Workout.”
Health benefits of diet
Dieting must have a lot of health and cosmetic benefits. If not, the diet industry would not be worth the over USD 175.44 billion that it was in 2022 and still growing.
Whatever diet or eating plan you choose, try to eat healthily. To get the most health benefits from your diet, eat more whole foods and include fiber, fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and healthy fats. Also, limit or avoid highly processed foods, sugar, and salt.
The image below shows some key health benefits from your diet if you eat healthy foods.
Health benefits of exercise
More and more, doctors and other health care providers are prescribing exercise as a form of medicine to improve health and combat chronic diseases.
Robert H. Butler once said, “If exercise can be purchased as a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation.”
Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week to get the most benefits. But you don’t have to get there at once. You can start small and gradually increase your exercise. Remember, every little step you take counts! If you are new to exercise and don’t know where or how to start, please check out “Exercise: A Path to Better Health for Women Over Forty.” Here you will find out how to overcome some common barriers to exercising.
As with diet, exercise has several key health benefits, as highlighted in the image below:
Do you prefer diet or exercise?
Which is more important? Diet or exercise? As you can see, diet and exercise have similar benefits and are important for optimal health. So, now that you know the benefits of both, do you prefer diet or exercise?
It is easy to glance through the benefits and choose one over the other because they are equally beneficial. However, both work hand in hand to improve your health and quality of life.
As a matter of fact, studies show that healthy eating by itself or exercise alone is not enough to prevent chronic diseases and later health issues.
In short, if you choose diet over exercise or vice versa, you are short-changing yourself. Furthermore, you can’t out-exercise your diet or out-eat your exercise. Simply put, you can’t exercise all day and eat unhealthily and expect to be in optimal health. Likewise, for your overall health, you cannot eat healthily and avoid exercise altogether.
Final thoughts
So, let’s revisit the original question. Do you prefer diet or exercise? The correct answer is BOTH! Like many things in life, we may not like the things that are good for us, but we must find ways to accept and embrace them. Ultimately, we must learn to find a balance between the things we love and the things that are good for us.
This summer, I went on a cruise, and I admit I gave in to my food-lover tendencies and enjoyed the food thoroughly. Did I gain weight? You bet! Would I trade the experience for anything? No, not at this time! And now, I am back to cleaning up my eating as much as is feasible without compromising my mental health.
The key to eating healthy and exercising is to start small. Your diet does not have to be restrictive. And you don’t have to eat healthy ALL of the time. In fact, it is mentally healthy to cut yourself some slack sometimes.
Therefore, instead of thinking about the things you can’t do, think of the small changes you can make. For example, instead of agonizing over giving up chocolate, why not add more vegetables and fiber to your meals?
And sometimes, all you need to start exercising and practicing a healthy lifestyle is a simple mindset change, as you can see in “Change your Mindset towards Exercise.”
Finally, remember Rome was not built in a day. And a healthy lifestyle is not a sprint but a marathon. So, do what you can today, and work towards your goal, one day at a time!
Please feel free to share your comments below and also feel free to share this article.
Yours in health and fitness,
Doctor Abi.
